Internet Safety Letter

May 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are always looking at ways to work in order to help ‘safeguard’ our pupils and help educate them on the dangers that they may face in the wider world.

Pupils are taught about Internet Safety throughout their time in school. We are all aware that the ‘digital world’ that we live in today can be a positive place with increased communication links and support for people; however you will also be aware of the many ‘hidden dangers’ it can create for adults and children alike.

We would like to ask you, as parents, to continue to talk to your children about both the positive aspects and dangers of the Internet; and more importantly to remind you to be aware of your child’s on-line activity – including games they may play, programmes they may watch, chat-rooms they may be in and social media sites they may access.

Although many on-line games are very appealing to children, they all carry age ratings because of their graphic content. Please can we ask that you are aware of any game and content that your child may be accessing for their own safety – including games that may carry an older age rating of 15 or 18.

In addition, social media sites such as Tik-Tok and Instagram are also sites that can allow children to be creative and share videos, photos and messages; however, both of the above have age restrictions (13 years old) and some ask for parental consent for under-18’s to access accounts.

Another platform which is very popular amongst children is ‘YouTube’. Again, this is a great platform for our children to explore and can help them in many ways; however additional safety settings can be included to restrict the content open to children. Unfortunately, it can be very easy for a child to access videos and content which are unsuitable through this site.

We live in a world where new sites and platforms are ever-changing and so we try to work with parents in order to provide a safe environment for your children and keep you up-to-date with any developments that we feel may help to protect your children. As I have said, this letter is not designed to cause any alarm amongst the school community; however, it is designed to offer guidance and support to parents so that we can work together to protect and ensure the safety of the children.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact school.

Yours sincerely,

Mr.N.Fowler                                                                                                                                                               Acting Headteacher